Do you have an effective client intake method for your law firm to ensure the process of working with clients goes smoothly? Have you integrated specific client intake procedures so business with clients is time-efficient? The resources you incorporate in your client intake process matter as they can either contribute to customer experience or negatively impact the experience clients have with you.
Client intake is important for your law firm business. As lawyers and attorneys devote a copious amount of time towards client intake, it is crucial to try to make the process as seamless as possible, for both you and your clients. Utilizing efficient client intake software and techniques is time-efficient, giving you more time to focus on other obligations within your job as a lawyer or attorney. It is quick, easy, and provides clients with exceptional service.
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What is Client Intake for Law Firms?
Client intake is the process of onboarding new clients and collecting all of the necessary information before servicing them. Similar to doctor offices and dentist appointments, you will need additional information regarding your client before working with them. It is important to collect your client’s information and ensure it is organized and safely documented so you can refer back to it when needed, and so there isn’t any confusion throughout the client’s time and experience with you and your law firm.
The process of client intake begins the second you have obtained a potential client. Once potential clients call your law firm’s office, client intake has begun. Client intake can turn potential clients into actual clients and can determine whether you would be a good match for each other throughout your attorney-client relationship. This is where your client decides if they would like you to work as their attorney and lawyer and also the point where you decide if you can serve them and their case. It is the initial point of contact and can lead to law firm business. Client intake typically follows the process of:
- A potential client contacts your law firm business and provides you with information
- Initial consultation
- Getting additional information
- Agreements
It is important to correctly record and file the information that was obtained during the client intake process. This is what will be used as a resource by you or your law firm throughout the case, and throughout your relationship with clients.
A Potential Client Contacts Your Law Firm
Whether a potential client has found you by word-of-mouth, or by visiting your website, it is important to have a specific process for potential clients who email or call you.
- How do you welcome a client via phone, email, etc?
- Do you know which questions to ask potential clients who are interested in your service?
- Do you have a way of safely documenting the information provided by potential clients?
- How do you close out the conversation in a way that will leave them feeling confident in choosing you or your law firm?
These are all relevant questions to ask when a potential client reaches out to you or your law firm. After speaking with a potential client you should have gathered information regarding the name, date of birth, contact information, and the reason why they have decided to reach out to you for help. Though these may seem like obvious questions, oftentimes they are not considered, and potential clients may turn to competitors if the necessary information has not been documented. Clients value their time, just like lawyers and attorneys value their time.
Initial Consultation
If a potential client has contacted you and is interested in what you offer after the initial point of contact, it is time to do a client screening. Consider what the client has contacted you and your law firm for and distinguish if you can serve the client as best as you can. Schedule a time to speak directly with potential clients to hear more about their cases. As a lawyer or attorney, if you feel ready to take on specific cases, explain what you and your law firm can offer and how the process would go if you have both agreed to move forward.
Gathering Additional Information
You have gathered basic information about your client, and have decided to move forward, what now? Although you have some information about your client, it is important to obtain specific information regarding your client and their case. It’s important to collect the correct data to avoid complications and ensure important information isn’t overlooked or undervalued. This consists of, but is not limited to, the following information:
- Full name
- Phone number(s)
- Address
- Email address
- Emergency contact information
- The reason you are reaching out to a lawyer
- Explanation of the situation that occurred
- The outcome of the situation
- All of the opposing party’s information
Agreements
One of the most important parts of the process is reviewing and signing agreements. This ties your attorney-client relationship together, ensures there is a method of payment from the client, and serves as a contract that describes the services the attorney or lawyer is expected to provide the client with.
We have discussed the basics of the process of client intake for lawyers, attorneys, and law firms and you are probably wondering how to record and file the important documents. The simple, yet extensive answer is client intake software.
What is Client Intake Software for Law Firms?
As we previously discussed, client intake is the process of converting potential clients into actual clients, collecting their information, discussing their case and what you offer as a lawyer or attorney, and securing the deal with a contract and agreement. As you can imagine, these steps are time-consuming, contain confidential information, and need to be accessible whenever needed. Instead of storing hundreds of papers in a filing cabinet, there are many software available that provides you with efficient tools that will allow you to safely store important information in a quick and organized manner. Law firm client intake software can provide your lawyer or attorney business with templates, spreadsheets, schedules, appointments, questionnaires, and much more.
Depending on your preference, the law firm client intake software you choose should provide you with the necessary tools that make client intake a smooth and seamless process. Research different software that will best fit your needs as a lawyer, attorney, or law firm. Here is a list of client intake software that can benefit your law firm or business as a lawyer and attorney.
Why Should I Purchase a Client Intake Software for my Law Firm?
Investing in client intake software for your law firm has many benefits. Besides the time-efficient benefits of client intake software, there are many features that can contribute to your law firm’s overall success. Below is a list of the benefits of law firm client intake software.
- Organizing potential clients, and current clients, information
- Keeping track of leads
- Optimizing client experience and follow-ups
- Analyzing data
- Email & calendar integration
- Set reminders
- Track revenue
There is software that offers many more features than the above list. Depending on your needs and the software you choose, the feature and offers will vary. It is important to consider the needs of your law firm when choosing software for client intake.
Law Ruler
Law Ruler is a client intake software that is made specifically for lawyers, attorneys, and law firms. This software has the sole purpose of improving client relationships. With its easy-to-navigate features, it eases workflow automation, reducing the cost of your attorney business. Additionally, if issues or questions were to arise, they have a helpful, caring customer service team.
Though Law Ruler has many efficient tools, Gmail and Microsoft Outlook are not an option when it comes to integrating emails. This might be a dealbreaker for lawyers and attorneys who are looking for a software system that is helpful in every area of their business. Emails are a useful resource for contact and are utilized daily. When features like so are not accessible, external resources may be an inconvenience during the process of client intake. It requires more time and oftentimes becomes confusing when having to use several different software.
Clio
Clio is a client intake software specifically made for customer relationship management. This software focuses on attracting new clients and staying organized. With the Clio client intake software, you can virtually share intake forms, input data into spreadsheets and notepads, and monitor and track the progress of potential and actual clients. Utilizing Clio makes the transition from a potential client to a new client as smooth as possible. The biggest positive aspect of Clio is they have a high-security system to protect the information of you, your clients, and your law firm.
While Clio is a great client intake software, lawyers and attorneys note the cons of utilizing Clio. As a personal injury attorney, it is important to document all medical bills and keep a record of all expenses. Unfortunately, Clio has not included specific tools to document costs like so. Additionally, attorneys and lawyers become frustrated when they invest in several different Clio software and are forced to use separate logins to access both. Again, when it comes to convenience, these are all aspects that are important for providing a seamless experience for both clients and law firm employees.
InterAction
Maintaining an attorney-client relationship begins with good customer service. To deliver the best customer service for your lawyer or attorney business, you need to utilize client intake software that collects important data and enables you to effectively plan and maintain client records. InterAction centers its software attention on relationship data and insights. This allows you to determine what works for your law firm’s clients, and what doesn’t.
If you are still familiarizing yourself with technology and software, InterAction can be confusing. It has been noted that InterAction features are difficult to navigate, and take some time to get used to. The user-friendly experience has caused frustration to new users and IT assistance is often reached out to. While they do have an IT team, it is difficult to get through to them or receive an answer.
Lawmatics
Another efficient client intake software that designates their time specifically towards attorneys, lawyers, and law firms is Lawmatics. This lawyer-client intake software was created by attorneys and legal technology experts. Hoping to simplify the lives of legal professionals as much as possible, they integrated customer engagement features. With a modern style, Lawmatics provides users with a legal client intake form builder. Regardless of your practice areas, you can customize your intake form to best fit your needs and preferences.
As Lawmatics and its features continue to progress, their contact and appointment booking feature still needs improvement to provide a seamless experience for both attorneys and clients. Users have explained they have found these features to be difficult at times.
Overview
Law firm client intake software can strengthen your lawyer or attorney business. By simplifying tasks, managing client intake and information, analyzing data, and providing clients with a good client experience, client intake software can increase the growth of your law firm’s business. While there are many ways you can enhance your law firm business, client intake is one large method to do so because of the number of features it comes with. Consider investing in client intake software to better your law firm.
